Norvell takes blame for the meltdown at Miami
Florida State coach Mike Norvell wasn’t at Hard Rock Stadium during the Seminoles’ grim 52-10 loss to then-No. 12 Miami Saturday night.
Norvell had to watch the game while quarantined at home after testing positive for COVID-19, but he spoke with reporters after the loss, first congratulating Hurricanes coach Manny Diaz and his team before accepting that FSU failed in every phase of the game.
“Obviously disappointed for our football team, for our coaching staff, for our players, for our fan base. That is definitely not the way we wanted to play tonight,”
Norvell said late Saturday night during a Zoom press conference from his home. “Obviously credit goes to Miami for what they did. This is something that completely falls on me. I’ve got to do a better job of putting our guys in the best position possible to go out there and play a better brand of football. We’ve got to play more disciplined, more physical and more consistent top to bottom in all three phases.”
Florida State struggled to hold off Miami’s prolific offense, but the Seminoles only trailed 14-3 at the end of the first quarter.
The Hurricanes then outscored the Seminoles 24-0 in the second quarter, pouncing on FSU miscues and seizing complete control of the contest.
Tempers flared during the second half, with the Seminoles showing their frustration as they racked up penalties and a bigger deficit.
“To have [12] penalties throughout the course of the game definitely hurt us in a lot of areas. We’ve got to get that corrected,” Norvell said.
“… It starts with me. In all phases … we did not play to the standard of what we want to do. I definitely am grateful for our team, our staff and all the things some guys had to overtake with me not being there and I appreciate all the work that went into that. And obviously we have to perform at a higher level.”
UM star quarterback D’Eriq King was 29 of 40 passing for 267 yards and two touchdowns while backup N’Kosi Perry added another touchdown pass.
King also rushed for 65 yards while leading the Hurricanes’ offense to 517 yards.
FSU, meanwhile, had three different quarterbacks struggle to move the ball. James Blackman was 16-of-26 passing for 120 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Tate Rodemaker was 5-of-9 passing for 47 yards and one interception. And Jordan
Travis was 1-of-2 passing for 12 yards with another interception.
Some offensive challenges were expected, but FSU had high expectations for its talented defense that forced two fumbles but couldn’t consistently contain Miami’s high-power attack.
FSU linebacker Amari Gainer said despite the lopsided result and penalties, he never sensed his teammates gave up.
“I didn’t really see anybody giving up,” he said. “I know everybody was mentally locked in. Everybody talked about it the night before, just … going into the game, how excited they were.”
Gainer said the Seminoles have to quickly get back to work. FSU will host Jacksonville State Saturday before the Seminoles’ schedule gets much tougher with games against Notre Dame, North Carolina, Louisville and Pittsburgh looming.
“Any time you give up 52 points, it’s never progress,” Gainer said. “So we’ve just got to go and get better and practice harder. And whatever we’re doing is not working, so we’ve got to go harder. So everybody just has to step it up.”
Norvell was able to work remotely last week and help the team prepare to face Miami, but he could not communicate with the Seminoles on game day and called watching the game from home “extremely challenging.”
His quarantine is slated to end Monday and he can rejoin the team addressing the lapses that led to the lopsided loss.
“We’ve got to get better and that’s something we’re absolutely
committed to do and I know is going to happen here as we move forward,” he said.